If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

Erin's Thoughts:

To be honest, I wasn't going to read I'll Meet You There. I'd been hearing a lot about it here and there, but I wasn't really that interested. So I don't really know where I suddenly got this really bad urge to read it. I mean, I think I went to like three different bookstores to find it because I wanted to read it SOOOOOO badly!

And, ugh! I am so glad that I read it! I ended up loving this book so much!! I would have read it in one sitting had it not been for the previous plans I'd made, which meant that I had to stop! But you bet the first thing I did when I got back home was open up my book again!

I'll Meet You There is intended for an older YA audience and it almost has a New Adult feel, so it definitely has a lot of crossover potential! I loved the story so much even though I didn't think I would like it initially. I really love the relationship between Skylar and Josh -- it's natural and friendly, but they still have that spark and tension that totally makes you want them to get together.

I also love the setting for this book! I like this idea of a deadbeat town in the middle-of-nowhere California, which made me imagine this kind of empty desert, Grapes of Wrath style. And the Paradise Inn they work had its own special charm to it.

Other than that, I would say this is a pretty classic tale overall. It has its own twists and turns, but if you're a fan of contemporary romance, I think this book will definitely be one you want to read!

Overall rating:

I really really loved I'll Meet You There. It's definitely a book I can see myself reading multiple times!! It's one of those books that made me crave other books like this, though this one remains my absolute favorite of the ones I've read recently.

Eeek! I am super excited for Heather Demetrio's next book (which I think is the second book in the Dark Caravan Cycle, Blood Passage, but I mean other than that, I can't wait to see what cooks up next!

Nicola Sparks, sixteen and an orphan, is ready to dive headlong into her first glittering London society season. She's also ready to dive headlong into the arms of handsome and debonair Lord Sebastian Bartholomew. Nicola's dream is a proposal from the viscount--a dream she's about to realize at last! So naturally, Nathaniel Sheridan's insinuations about her fiance's flawed character annoy her mightily.

But when Nicola's natural curiosity gets the best of her, she begins to piece together a few things for herself. To her great surprise, Nicola realizes she's had the wrong viscount all along . . . but is it too late to make things right?

My Thoughts:

This is the third historical romance I've read by Meg Cabot, including Ransom My Heart and Victoria and the Rogue, and while they are quite different from Meg's other stuff, mainly because of the time setting, I could definitely see Meg's humor and writing in the novel!

Nicola has quite the sense of humor at times, which I really enjoyed. She was strong, independent, yet still elegant!

I will admit at times she bugged me, especially at the beginning, during her obsession with "The God", aka Lord Sebastian. Personally, I thought from the beginning he sounded like a tool, and I would have totally gone for Nathaniel, aka Mr. Hottie with a attitude!

I loved the time setting, Meg must have put a lot of research into her historical romances. The vocabulary used in the dialogue, the clothing pieces described, the settings...all sounded very detailed and from I could tell accurate.

Overall rating:

I would definitely recommend it! It's something different, if you're not usually into Historical Romances, because it has Meg's incredible humor!

Definitely check it out if you get a chance!

Amazon has it available in Kindle, and used paperbacks. And Barnes and Noble via Nook. The paperbacks are a little hard to find brand new now-a-days. I've had to order mine through the marketplaces of Amazon.

So check it out!

So now to the Recap!

Deanna over at Deanna Writes has a review of the Audiobook of Jinx! One of Meg's cute paranormal teen novels!

And then Akilah over at The Englishist has posted a Meg Cabot Appreciation Post!

And then my awesome co-host, Diana over at Little Miss Drama Queen has posted reviews for The Princess Diaries book 6-10!

So that's it for this week's recap!
Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

From Left to Right: Victoria Aveyard, Alexis Bass, Virginia Boecker, and Kody Keplinger

Me and Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen)

Kody was so busy signing, that we weren't really able to get a picture with her, but this is the closest I got to one

Here is my signed loot from that signing:

The DUFF is also signed by Robbie Amell, Bianca Santos, and Nick Everman from The DUFF movie! :)

I was so unbelievably happy to get finally get my copy of The DUFF signed!! One of my favorite books!

After that panel, it was time to run back upstairs to the fourth floor for Jessica Brody (the Unremembered Trilogy), Romina Russell (Zodiac), Kiersten White (Illusions of Fate), and Livia Blackburne (Midnight Thief)

Romina Russell had her table all set up with Astrological signs! :) (I'm a cancer, so I grabbed one of those and got it signed along with my Zodiac copy! :)

Her novel All the Bright Places , looks SOOOOO good!! Sadly they were all sold out of copies when I went to back to the store to pick up hers and Ava Dellaira's!

Liz Maccie

Stephen Chbosky signing my copy of Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen Chbosky and me

Ava Delairra signing my copy of Love Letters to the Dead

Me and Ava Dellaira

Jennifer Niven ended up signing a Post-It pad she was giving away, which she signed "Mandy-Thank you for being one of my bright places! Jennifer Niven")

From Ava Dellaria: "Dear Mandy, It's such an honor and a delight to meet you! Thank you so much for being a reader and for being an awesome person! Yours, Ava Dellaira"

Liz Maccie signed "Mandy-Wishing you great friends and grand adventures- always-Liz"

Liz Maccie was so kind and amazing! Both her and Stephen (her husband!)! She seriously GAVE me a copy of her book!!! She just asked "Do you want a copy of my book?"!!!!!! How awesome and amazing is that?!

So here's my final haul from the Festival! I left home with only the stack on the far right, and came home with the other two left stacks plus my originals! And all the swag!!!!

So much fun!!

I also finally covered my entire Kindle Cover!!

Doesn't it look gorgeous??!!

Sadly I am not able to identify some of the signatures anymore, but these are the ones I know are on there for sure:

Friday, May 22, 2015

So finals are over, but I got sick of course, because isn't that just the dandy part of life?!

But anyway, I know I suck, but I haven't had the brain or energy to read in the last few days. Now that doesn't mean I HAVEN'T read, it just means I haven't finished reading the book, I had set myself to finish this week! But I should be done soon with it, and as soon as I do, my review will be up! :)

But for now I have other Meg-A Readers 2015 posts to share with you, a small announcement, and a GIVEAWAY for this week's recap!!! :)

First, to my announcement!

I have decided that for this year's Meg-A Readers I will be focusing on Meg Cabot's historical romances! I was able to pick up three of them from Amazon for super cheap, and I've been trying to get my hands on those babies for years!! I'm reading Nicola and the Viscount right now, which I've had sitting on my shelves for a couple of years now, and I got Educating Caroline in the mail yesterday! Two more are on their way! :) I am really excited for this!!

In FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCESS a new middle grade series, readers will see Genovia, this time through the illustrated diaries of a spunky new heroin, 12 year old Olivia Grace, who happens to be the long lost half-sister of Princess Mia Thermopolis.

My Thoughts:

Oh goodness how cute!! No joke! I am 23 years old and thought this was absolutely adorable!! I truly loved it!! It is absolutely perfect for young readers! I am actually really looking forward to recommending it to the kids at the elementary school I work at!

Olivia, I just know, is going to turn out as awesome and perfect as Mia has throughout The Princess Diaries!!! I just know it!!

Meg is honestly just so diversely talented! She can write for any age group! Elementary School (Allie Finkle), Middle School (From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess), High school (with her many many young adult novels, Princess Diaries just being one of them!), and adult (Royal Wedding is also only one of her many adult novels!! Plus she writes Historical Romances!!!!!!

Honestly amazing!!

I can never give enough praise to Meg, because she will always amaze me! No joke!

Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend this one!!

Olivia really is a cutie! And I can't wait to find out more about how her life in Genovia turns out! Her aunt and uncle seriously made me angry!!! I kind of hope something else goes their way! What they did was terrible, and so not okay!

I also loved seeing Mia play protective big-sister! She did a great job!

Overall rating...

Absolutely a really cute start to a sure to be great series!! I am really looking forward to picking up my finished copy!!!! It came out TODAY!!!! :)

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About Me

Hello My name is Mandy! I am the founder and creator of The Romance Bookie, which I started in December of 2010. Ever since my freshman year of high school, reading has been a huge part of my life. While I've grown as a person over the past couple of years, and reading hasn't become the #1 priority it used to be, it still is a huge part of my life, and is part of the reason I am the person I am today.
I am always looking forward to connecting with other readers, and have met some amazing people because of The Romance Bookie, so anytime you're looking to talk about books or need a recommendation, I'll be happy to give it! My email is: romancebookie@yahoo.com :).
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